What the Hell Happened to Apple Laptops?

The shine is officially off of Apple. After taking the top spot in our annual Best and Worst Laptop Brands report since 2010, Apple has fallen out of first place for the first time. But not to second place. Or even third. The MacBook maker plummeted all the way to fifth out of 10 companies.

What the hell happened?

Each year, we evaluate the top laptop brands in several categories, including design, reviews, tech support, warranty, and value and selection. This year, Apple impressed with its tech support, taking first in our undercover Tech Support Showdown.

But it goes downhill from there, as Apple has disappointed creative professionals with its latest wares while also abandoning mainstream shoppers on budgets.

For starters, the latest 13-inch MacBook Pro with Touch Bar didn't impress us that much in our review. The Touch Bar itself is fairly innovative, but it feels like a tease when you can reach out and touch the entire screen on more versatile, Windows-powered convertibles like the HP Spectre x360 and XPS 13 2-in-1.

Opting for the Touch Bar model also means sacrificing battery life, as the non-Touch Bar MacBook Pro has a bigger battery and lasts longer on a charge.

Then there's the matter of ports, or lack thereof. In an effort to create the most streamlined designs possible, Apple ditched both traditional USB ports and SD Card slots in favor of Thunderbolt 3. As a result, MacBook Pro owners need to carry around awkward dongles to connect their phones, cameras and other peripherals.

I can see sacrificing these ports on the razor-thin 12-inch MacBook, but Apple left too much on the cutting room floor for its Pro machines.